Theodoee ames



C of the casing.

disks K are mounted as there are levers A, one

llmrnn STATE-S PATENT @FFICE.

THEODORE AMES, OF HAGKENSACK, NEW JERSEY.

TELEGRAPHIC TRANSMITTER FOR UNSKILLED OPERATORS.

ESEPFCIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 305,262, dated September 16, i884.

Application filed November 26,1883. (No model.)

To rtZZ whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, THEODORE AMES, of

Hackensack, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Telegraph-Instrument, of which the fol owing is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

The object of my invention is to provide a new and improved telegraph-instrunient, to be operated in the same manner as a. typewriter, and by means of which instrument a person not skilled in the art of telegraphing the Morse or other characters can transmit a message in these characters.

The invention consists in the peculiar con struction and arrangement of parts, as herein after fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of myimproved telegraph-instrument, a part being broken away. Fig. 2 is a crosssectional elevation of the same on the line m m, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the same on the line y Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is ,a detail of the check and cam, showing the'former depressed.

A series of levers,-A, are mounted to swing vertically on a shaft, B, secured in a casing, O, and 011 the outer end of each lever A a button or head, D, is fastened, each of which buttons is provided with a different letter or character. To the lower edge of each lever A a spring, 1*], is fastened at the inner end, one end, E, of each of which springs rests against the inner surface of the rear casing, O, and thus presses the lever upward. The other end, E", of the spring projects into a recess, a, in the bottom edge of the corresponding lever A, and rests upon a tongue, b, formed by the recess a. The end E is provided with a bend or projection, d. The lower edges of all the levers A rest -in the upper edge of a strip, F, uniting two end pieces, G G, pivoted to the inner surfaces of the ends of the casing O, which strip F is pressed upward by springs H. A shaft, J, is journaled in the ends of the casing, and is revolved by a clock-work contained in the part On the shaft J as many metal disk K being below each lever. Each disk K is provided in its edge with a series of notches, g, forming teeth h, the notches and teeth of each disk being of a different shape, size, and arrangement, according to the length and arrangement'of the Morse character, to which the letter on the corresponding lever belongs. The end piece G is provided with a vertical slot, G and the end piece G is provided with an aperture, G having shoulders m and mat the top and bottom, respectively. On the shaft J a cam, L, is mounted within the aperture G, which cam is provided with two nearly diametrically-opposite teeth, m and n. Studs Z, projecting from the end pieces, G G, into vertical slots in the ends of the casing, prevent the strip F from being depressed too far. The transmitting-wires are connected with the shafts B and J.

The operation is as follows: The clockwork revolves the shaft J in the direction of the ar-v row a; but when the cani-tooth n of the cam L strikes against the shoulder a of the aperture G the shaft J is arrested. If a lever A is depressed, it depresses the strip F and the end pieces, G G, thus moving the shoulder at below the tooth n, thereby releasing the shaft J, which can revolve sufficiently, and is then stopped by the tooth on, which strikes against the shoulder m, while end piece G is depressed. If the pressure is removed from the lever A, the spring E throws it upward, and the spring or springs H throw the strip F and end pieces, G G, upward, thus raising the shoulder in sufficiently to release the tooth m,

thus permitting the shaft J to complete its' revolution. It is then locked by the tooth or and the shoulder at until another lever A is depressed, and so on. The cam-teeth m and n are not in the same plane, but in two planes formed 011 opposite sides of the cam, the planes being parallel. The shoulders m and a do not extend across the entire width of the edge of the aperture G, but only across onehalf the width or thickness of the same. The top shoulder is one side of the piece G, and the bottom shoulder on the other, so that the tooth an only engages with the shoulder m, and the tooth or is only stopped by the shoulder at alternately, the tooth m and shoulder at engaging when the side pieces are depressed, and

IOO

the tooth n and the shoulder or engaging when the side pieces are raised; The teeth, being set nearly opposite, permit nearly an entire revolution atthe start for the tooth a before thetoothmis stoppedbytheshoulderm. The

releasing of the tooth on by the upward movement then brings the tooth 17/ against the shouli der n. hen a levcrA is depressed, the projection d of its spring is brought in contact with the edge of the corresponding disk, K. Vhen the tcethg are in contact with the pro= jection d, the circuit will be closed, and every time a tooth, 1 passes from underthe projection (Z the circuit will be broken. Thus the I 5 circuit will be broken more or less times, ac-

cording to the configuration of the edges of the disk, and as the disks revolve, when a lever is depressed, a series of electric impulses of greater or less length are transmitted every 20 time a lever is depressed, and these strokes produce Morse characters at the other end of the line.

Aperson wishing to telegraph depresses the corresponding keys in the same manner as in operating a type-writing machine, and it is seen that no knowledge of the Morse characters is required by the transmitter of the message. The receiver of th e nressage must have a k nowledge of the Morse characters.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is.

1. In a telegraphinstrument, the combina tion, with a series of levers, of a series of contact-disks mounted on a revolvin shalt, a 5 YCIlZlCZLlly-IllOVZlblG check provided with apertures. and a locking-cam 011 the shaft carrying the disks, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. In atelegraplrinstrument, the combina- 0 'tion, with a series of levers,i\, of the rotary shaft J, carrying contact-disks K, the spring E, nojecting from the inner ends of the levers, and provided with projections d, substantially as herein shown and described. 4

3. In a telegraph-instrument, the combina tion, with the levers A, having notches a, fornr ing tongues 'b, of the springs E, projecting into the notches a, and of the rotary shaft J, carrying contact-disks K, substantially as herein shown and described.

4. In a telegraph-instrun1ent, the coinbination, with the levers A, of the rotary shaft J, carrying contact-disks K, the pivoted end pieces, G G, the strip F,the spring H, and 5 5 the cam L, substantially as herein shown and described. I

5. In a telegraph-instrun1ent, the combina tion, with the levers A, of the shaft J, carrying contact-disks K, the strip F, the pivoted 6c end pieces, G- G, of which the latter has an aperture, G", provided with shoulders m 01, and the cam L, and the spring I-I, substantially as'herein shown and described.

THEODORE AMES.

Vitnesses:

RoswELL VAX BITSKIRK, .T1-., 7 H. GREENMAX. 

